Last for footwear



P 4, 1956 L. H. L'HOLLIER EI'AL 2,761,159

LAST FOR FOOTWEAR Filed Aug. 27, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet l JHL/EH/UEE L 5555HZZb/Z 'EL [has TEE .EZEi/ z P 4, 1956 L. H. L'HOLLIER ETAL 2,761,159

LAST FOR WEAR 2 Sheets-s 2 I vvhmhvi United States Patent LAST nonFOOTWEAR Leslie Howard LHollier, Newton, and Chester A. Riley, .Melrose,Mass., assignors to lf'he B. F. Goodrich Compally, New York, N. Y., acorporation of New York Application August 27, 1952, Serial No. 366,598

14 Claims. (Q1. 12-433) This invention relates to footwear and pertainsmore particularly to a last upon which footwear may be assembled.

it is an object of this invention to provide a last upon which footwearhaving a gusset-type closure member may be constructed.

Other. objects of this invention will be apparent from the descriptionand drawings which follow.

In the construction of certain articles of footwear, such as boots,shoes, gaiters and the like, it has been found desirable to incorporatetherein an expansion member for the purpose of permitting the article tobe easily pulled on or removed from the foot and yet to provide anarticle of footwear which is capable of closely encompassing the footwhile it is being worn. To obtain this desired result, a gusset memberis normally incorporated inthe body of the boot or shoe which has beenslitted to receive the gusset member. The conventional gusset memberconsists of a pre-assembled pocket formed by folding a coated fabricmember back upon itself and is incorporated in a boot or shoeby seamingor sealing the edges of the gusset to an opening in the body of the bootor shoe, a time-consuming and tedious operation.

Articles of footwear having conventional gusset members incorporatedtherein have not proven entirely satisfactory, however, since thejunctures along which the gusset member is seamed or sealed to the bodyof the article are relatively stiff, as a result of the double wallthickness necessarily occurring along these zones, causing discomfort tothe wearer. Also, if the gusset is joined to the body of the boot orshoe with an adhesive material, such as a rubbery cement, additionalstilfness along these junctures results. The uneven interior surface ofthe boat or shoe caused by the aforementioned seams chafe the leg of thewearer, particularly in the regions adjacent the ankle bone causingadditional discomfort to the wearer.

Other disadvantages of boots or shoes incorporating conventional gussetmembers are that the body of the boot or shoe has a tendency to tear atthe apex of the slitted portion during use and that the seams alongwhich the gusset is joined to the body of the boot or shoe becomeseparated, causing premature failure of the boot 0 shoe.

Furthermore, in boots or shoes in which a lace is used to maintain theboot or shoe securely bound to the wearer, in order to provide asufficient opening at the entrance of the boot or shoe to allow it to beeasily pulled on or removed from the foot, it is necessary to completelyremove the lace from substantially all of the eyelets or hooks of theboot or shoe to allow gusset memher to be folded outwardly to an'opencondition.

Still other limitations in the conventional gusset member becomeapparent when the gusset member is incorporated in insulated footweardesigned to protect the wearers feet from cold for sustained periods oftime. To incorporate the desired heat-insulating properties in footwear,one or more layers of heat-insulating material are 2 incorporated intothe body of the boot or shoe. However, 1t '18 impossible to incorporateheat-insulating material in the body of the boot or shoe along thosezones of the body to which the conventional gusset member is joinedresulting in zones of the body of the boot or shoe which areuninsul-ated.

Our invention attains the objectives set forth above and eliminates thedeficiencies in footwear enumerated above by providing a last upon whichfootwear containing a novel gusset-type closure member may beconstructed and by providing an insulated article of footwear havingheat:

insulating material which completely encompasses the foot and ankle ofthe wearer.

For a clear understanding of this invention, specific reference will bemade, henceforth, to a last embodying this invention and to a bootemploying our novel gusset Fig. 5 is a side elevation view partly brokenaway and in section of a boot embodying this invention;

Fig. 6 is a section on line 6-6 of Fig. 5,and Fig. 7 is a fragmentarysection similar to the section of Fig. 6 showing the body portion of theboot in a closed condition.

Referring to the drawings, last 10 comprises a foot portion 11 ofconventional contour and a leg or shank portion 12, the fore part 13 ofleg portion 12 meeting the rear part 14 of leg portion 12 laterallyalong relatively sharp obtuse-angled junctures 15, 15 forming a pair ofprotruding edges 16, 16 disposedone on each side of last 10 andextending from the top margin 17 of leg portion 12 and from just forwardof the breast or quarter portions 18, 18 of last 10 downwardly andgradually forwardly to about mid-instep level 19. Preferably, junctures15, 15 gradually converge toward each other and decrease in depth ormagnitude as they extend downwardly from the top margin 17 of legportion 12 toward the mid-instep level 19 of last 10 and, preferably,extend rapidly forwardly at about mid-instep level 19, as shown in Fig.l, to conform to the general curvature of the instep of the foot.

"Although leg portion 12 has a contour resembling the general contour ofa leg up to about mid-calf height, the contour of fore part 13 of legportion 12 gradually flares outwardly as it extends from aboutmid-instep level to top margin 17 of last 10 as compared with thecontour of a leg and the contour of the lateral portions of leg portion12 gradually flare outwardly as they extend from about ankle level totop margin 17 of last 10 as compared with the contour of a leg to formleg portion 12 to a general funnel-shaped contour, as shown in Figs. 1to 4, providing footwear having fullness in the forward and lateralportions of the body of the boot or shoe to allow the footwear to beeasily pulled on. or removed fromthe foot.

Last 10 may be constructed of any material conventionally used infabricating lasts or forms for footwear, such as cast metalcompositions, and may be of a hollow or solid construction.

As shown in Fig. 5, a boot Ztl made in accordance with this inventionand assembled on last 10 comprises a flexible leg-enclosing upperportion 21 which extends generally to about mid-calf height and a soleassembly.

flexible resilient waterand moisture-impervious rubberlike outer barrier22, a soft flexible outer insulating member 23,-, a soft flexible innerinsulating member 24 and a flexible resilient waterandmoisture-impervious rubberlik inner. barrier 25 and has a contourresembling. the general surface configurations of last 10. includingoutwardly extending ridges or. junctures 26, 26 which are formed at thejunctures of the fore part portion 30 of upper portion 21 with the'rearportion. thereof 'and which are disposed one on each side of upperportion 21 and which extend from the. upper margin 27 of boot 20 andfrom. just. forward. of the breast or quarter portions 28, 28 of. boot.20 downwardly and gradually forwardly to about mid-instep level 2a.Ridges 26, 26 of upper portion. 21, also, gradually converge towardeach. other and decrease in. magnitude or depth. as they extenddownwardly from the upper margin 27 of boot 2i) and extend rapidlyforwardly at aboutmid-instep level to conform to the. general.configuration ofthe instep of the foot.

The fore part. portion 30 of upper portion 21 which extends from ridge26. on one side of boot 20 around the frontof boot2l to ridge 26 on theother side of boot 20 gradually flaresoutwardly as it extends from aboutmidinstep level 29 to upper margin 27 of boot 26 and. in conjunctionwith the lateral portions of upper portion 21, which also flaregradually outwardly as they extend from about ankle level to uppermargin 27 of boot 20, form upper portion 21 toa' general funnel-shapedcontour to allow the boot to be' easily pulled on andremoved from thefoot.

Outer insulating member 23 disposed over the inner face of barrier 22extends upwardly from the bottom margin of midsole 31 to any desiredheight and extends continuously around the footand ankle-enclosing orfootand leg-enclosing portion of upper portion 21. The insulatingmaterial of member 23 may be any soft flexibleheat-insulating,material,such as-deep'pile fabric, shearling, spun.glass, spun nylon, rabbit hair, and the like.

Inner insulating member 24 extends from midsole 31 upwardly toapproximately the same height as member 23and lies in-face-to-facecontact therewith extending continuously around the footandankle-enclosing or footand leg-enclosing portion of upper portion 21.Inner insulating member 24 may be constructed of the sameheat-insulating. material as outer insulating member 23 and hasinnerbarrier 25 disposed over its entire inner face.

Midsole 31 may be constructed of any flexible resilient heat-insulating.material, preferably a firm and relatively incompressibleheat-insulating material, such as wool felt,

andv is assembled with inner insulating member 24 and outer insulatingmember 23 in a manner to form a contiguous heat-insulating layer aboutthe entire foot and ankle of the wearer.

Fabricreinforcing member 32 with a waterand.moisture-iinperviousrubber-like material on its inner and outer facesextends upwardly from the bottom margin of mid sole 3 1 to the uppermargin 27 of boot 2'1) and continuously around the foot andankle-enclosing or footand legenclosing portion of. upper portion 21 andis disposed over and adhered-to the outer face of outer insulatingmember 23 and in the region of the upper margin 27 of boot- 20 tobarrier 25, as. shown in Fig. 5.

Fabric reinforcing member 34. coated with a water-- andmoisturerimpervious rubber-like material on its inner and outer faces isdisposed over and adhered to the upper margin of member 32 to provideadditional reinforcement for the upper margin 27 of boot 26. Arelatively flexible fabric liner 35- coated with a rubbery cement on itsinner andouter'face's is disposed over and adhered to-the bottom face ofmidsole 31- and barrier 22 is disposed over and adhered to reinforcingmembers 32 and 34 and liner 35'.

A woven fabric reinforcing layer 36 is disposed over and adhered to theheel portion of barrier 25. A heel counter 37' extends? over and isadhered to the outer face of. reinforcing layer 36 and'has disposed overand adhered to its outer face a'second woven fabric reinforcing-layer 38which is adhered to the inner face of insulating member 24. A relativelyflexible fabric line 39 coated with a rubbery cement on its inner andouter faces is disposed over and adhered to the upper face of midsole31, the upper face of liner 39 being adhered to barrier 25.

As shown in Fig. 5, barrier 22, which extends over the entire outersurface of the insulating assembly, and barrier 25, which extends overthe entire inner surface of the insulating assembly, are sealed togetheralong their top peripheries providing a moisture-impervious rubber-dikesheath that completely encompasses the insulating assembly preventingmoisture from diflusing into members 23 and 24. and midsole 31 todestroy the heat-insulating properties thereof.

A flexible fabric heel-reinforcing strip 49 extending from midsole levelupwardly along the inner rear face of upper portion 21 and adheredthereto and a similar toe-reinforcing strip 41 extendingupwardly frommid-sole level along the inner front face of upper portion 21* andadhercdthere to permit the boot to be easily pulled on and removed.from. the foot of the wearer.

A heel stiffener 42 of woven fabric reinforcing material coated on itsinner and outer faces with a rubber-like material extends. over the heelzone of upper portion 21- and is adhered thereto. A second reinforcinglayer 43 coated on its. outer face with a rubber-like material isdisposed over heel stiffener 42 and the heel zone of upper portion- 21and. is. adhered thereto.

A foxing strip 44 of flexible resilient rubber-like material reinforcedwith a woven fabric material disposedover its. inner face is adhered tothe lower marginal zone of upper portion 21 and extends from justforward of the quarter portion of the boot on one side forwardlyaroundthe toeof the boot to just forward of the quarter portion oftheboot on the other side and overlying the forwardportions ofreinforcinglayer 43.

A we cap 45 of flexibleresilient rubber-like material isdisposed overthe toeportion of foxing strip 44 and upper portion 21 and is adheredthereto.

A relatively flexible resilient rubberlike outsole 46 is disposed overliner 35 and over the lower marginal zones of. too cap 45, foxing strip44 and reinforcing layer 43.

Securing flaps 47, 4.7 of rubber-like material secured to: upper portion21, as shown in- Figs. 5, 6, and 7, areprovided with eyelets 48, 48allowing the boot to be tightly lacedto the wearers foot and ankle.

A- flexible heat-insulatinginsole 49 constructed of afirm and relativelyincompressible heat-insulating material, such as. wool. felt, isdisposed over barrier 25 and adheredthereto to. provide additionalinsulation for the bottom portion of. the bootand a soft foundation uponwhich the wearers footv rests.

As shown in Fig. 6, upper portion 21, when in a normay open condition,provides an ample opening for allowing: the boot to be easily pulled onor removed: from. the foot without it being necessary that the bootlace50 be removed-from. eyelets 48, 48 as is necessary in footwear having aconventional gusset expansion member therein which requires that theportions of the upper portion folded-backupon itself to form the gussetbe fully extended to cause the upper portion of the boot to be formed toanopen. condition.

To-secure boot20 snugly to the foot and ankle, bootlace50threadedthrough eyelets 48, 48- is pulled tight causing, zones. 51,.51 of upper portion. 21 to foldv inwardly andbaclc uponthernselves, asshown in-Fig. 7, to form a folded gusset configuration. faces of.insulating members 23 and 24 be clipped or sheared along zones 51, 51,as shown in Fig. 6, toprovidez greater flexibility for these zones as aresult of the reduced wall-thickness. to allow the upper tomorereadilybe-folded back upon: itself asthe' boot is laced securely to: thewear-' as leg;

A preferred method of constructing boot 205 is to coat It is preferablethat the opposing i E, j last with a moisture-impervious rubber-likematerial, such as by dipping last 10 in rubber latex, to form innerbarrier 25, and, if it is desirable, the coating or deposit ofrubber-like material is dried. Heel-reinforcing strip 40, andtoe-reinforcing strip 41 and insole 49 are adhered to barrier and theassembly is removed from the last and turned inside-out. The reversedassembly is again drawn over last 10 with heel-reinforcing strip andtoe-reinforcing strip 41 facing inwardly.

Liner 39 and reinforcing layer 36 are adhered over barrier 25 and heelcounter 37 is adhered over reinforcing layer 36. Reinforcing layer 38 isadhered over heel counter 37 and reinforcing layer 36. Insulating member24, which has previously been formed to the desired configuration, isdrawn over the assembly and midsole 31 is lasted to line 39.

Insulating member 23, which has previously been formed to the desiredconfiguration, is drawn over insulating member 24 and liner 35 isdisposed over and adhered to midsole 31. Reinforcing member 32, whichhas previously been formed to the desired configuration is drawn overand adhered to insulating member 23 and reinforcing member 34 is adheredover the upper margin of reinforcing member 32. The exposed surfaces ofthe assembly are coated with a moisture-impervious rubberlike material,such as by dipping the assembly in rubber latex, to form barrier 22 andthe coating is allowed to dry.

Heel stiffener 42 is lasted to barrier 22 and reinforcing layer 43 isdisposed over heel stiffener 42 and barrier 22 and adhered thereto.Foxing strip 44 is lasted over barrier 22 and the forward portions ofreinforcing layer 43. Toe cap 45 is lasted over foxing strip 44 andbarrier 22, and outsole 46 is lasted over liner 35 and over the lowermarginal zones of toe cap 45, foxing strip 44 and reinforcing layer 43.Securing flaps 47, 47 are lasted to barrier 22, the assembly isvulcanized in the usual manner to form an integral unit, and insole 49is adhered over the inner face of barrier 25.

A last within the purview of this invention provides a means for formingan upper portion for a'boot or shoe which in its normal open conditionprovides a sufficiently large opening for allowing the boot or shoe tobe readily pulled on or removed from the foot, it being unnecessary topartially unthread the lace from the boot or shoe as is necessary infootwear having a conventional gusset type expansion member.

Our last also provides an upper for a boot or shoe which, although it isnormally biased to an open unfolded contour, when laced tightly to theleg and foot of the wearer folds inwardly and upon itself along desiredzones to form a contour similar to a conventional gusset type expansionmember in a folded closed condition.

Our invention, further, provides an article of footwear which insulatesthe entire foot and ankle of the wearer from temperatures below the bodytemperature of the wearer, the heat radiated from the foot of the wearerbeing prevented from diffusing to the surrounding atmosphere by theheat-insulating construction completely encompassing the foot and ankleof the wearer.

The water-impervious rubber-like coating disposed over the entire innerand outer surface of a boot within the purview of this inventionprevents moisture and water from dampening the insulating members of thefoot preventing the destruction of the insulating properties of theinsulating members.

It is clear that obvious modifications and variations of this inventionmay be made without departing from the spirit and scope of our inventionas defined in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A last for footwear comprising in combination a foot portion and aleg portion, said leg portion including a front portion and a rearportion, each having two continuously-smooth generally-divergentsurfaces which meet complementary surfaces of the other portionlaterally orieach side of the last along a line of juncture, said linesof juncture extending downwardly from the upper margin of said legportion just forward of the quarter portion of said last one on eachside thereof to about mid-instep level to define an abrupt obtuse angledchange of the surface contonr along said lines of juncture of said last.

2. A last for footwear comprising, in combination afoot portion and aleg portion, said leg portion including a front portion and a rearportion each having two continuously-smooth generally-divergent surfaceswhich meet complementary surfaces of the other portion laterally atoutwardly-directly obtuse-angled junctures, said junctures beingdisposed one on each side of said last and each extending from the uppermargin of said leg portion just forward of the quarter portion of said.last downwarda ly and forwardly to about mid-instep level and graduallyconverging toward each other as they extend downwardly from said uppermargin of said leg portion to about mid-instep level.

3. A last for footwear comprising, in combination, a foot portion and aleg portion, said leg portion including a forward portion and a rearportion each having two continuously-smooth generally-divergent surfaceswhich meet complementary surfaces of the other portion lateral- 1y toform a pair of relatively sharp obtuse-angled outwardly-directedjunctures disposed one on each side of said last and each extending fromthe upper margin of i said leg portion and from just forward of thequarter portion downwardly and gradually forwardly to about midinsteplevel and extending rapidly forwardly at about 'mid-instep level toconformto the general curved contour of the instep of a foot.

4. A last for footwear comprising, in combination, a foot portion andaleg portion, said leg portion including a forward portion and a rearportion each having two continuously-smooth generally-divergent surfaceswhich meet complementary surfaces of the other portion laterally to forma pair of relatively sharp obtuse-angled outwardly-directed juncturesdisposed one on each side of said last and each extending from the uppermargin of said leg portion at just forward of the quarter portion on itsside of said last downwardly and gradually forwardly to about mid-insteplevel and extending rapidly forwardly at about mid-instep level toconform to the general curved contour of the instep of a foot, saidjunctures gradually decreasing in depth and gradually converging towardeach other as they extend downwardly from said upper margin of said legportion to mid-instep level.

5. A last for footwear comprising a foot portion and a leg portion, saidleg portion including a forward portion and a rear portion which meetlaterally to form a pair of relatively sharp obtuse-angledoutwardly-directed junctures disposed one on each side of said last andextending from the upper margin of said leg portion at just forward ofthe quarter portion on each side of said last downwardly and forwardlyto about mid-instep level, said forward portion of said leg portiongradually flaring outwardly as it extends from about mid-instep level tosaid upper margin of said leg portion, and the lateral portions of saidleg portion gradually extending outwardly as they extend from aboutankle level to said upper margin of said leg portion.

6. A last for footwear having a gusset-type closure comprising a footportion and a leg portion extending to above ankle height, the outersurface of said leg por tion having a side thereof formed of twocontinuouslysmooth generally-diverging lateral surfaces meeting in aline of juncture at an obtuse angle to form an apex of a projectingridge running from the top of the leg portion down to the foot portion,the said ridge projecting the most at the top and gradually projectingless until the ridge merges into the smooth surface of the last near theupper region of the foot portion of the last.

7. A last for footwear as defined in claim 6 in which said lateralsurface to the rear of the ridge is larger than said lateral surfaceinfront of said ridge.

' 8 A- lastfor footwear as defined in claim 6 inwhich the: saidli'n'edefining the apex of said ridge extends down- Wardl'y and towardthe front of the last as it merges into the smooth surface of the last.

9 A last for footwear as defined in claim 6- in which said lateralsurface to the rear of the ridge is larger than said lateral surface infront of said ridge, and in which the said line defining the apex ofsaid ridge extends downwardly and toward the front of the last as itmerges into the smooth surface of the last.

16. A last for footwear having a gusset-type closure comprising a footportion and a leg portion extending to above ankle height, the outersurface of the leg portionhaving rounded front and rear surfaces andprojecting lateral surfaces extending outwardly therefrom and meeting ina line of juncture at an: obtuse angle to form the apex of a projectingridge on each side of the last, each projecting ridge running from thetop of the leg portion down to near the upper region of the foot portionand projecting. the most at the top of the leg portion and graduallyprojecting less until the ridge merges into the smooth surface of thelast near the upper region of the foot portion of the last.

11:. A last for footwear as defined in claim in which on each side ofthe last the lateral surface to the rear of the ridge is larger than thelateral surface in front of said ridge.

122. A last for footwear as defined in claim 10 in-which. the: linedefining the apex of said ridge on each. side of the last extendsdownwardly and toward the front of the last as it merges into the smoothsurface of the last.

13. A last for footwear as defined in claim 10 in which oneach side ofthe last the lateral surface to the rear of the ridge is larger than thelateral surface in front of' saidrid'ge, and in which the line definingthe apex of said ridge on each side of the last extends downwardly andtoward the front of the last asit merges into the smooth surface of thelast.

14. A last for footwear comprising a foot portion anda leg portionextending toabove ankle height, the crosssection of the outer surface ofthe leg portion attheupper region thereof having approximately aquadrangular shape in which the front and rear corners are rounded andthe sidesextending from the rounded corners diverge and meet at theopposite lateraf corners of the quad-- rangle in obtuse angles, thesides extending from the rear corner being substantially longer than thesides extending from the front corner, the cross-section ofthe' saidouter surface gradually changing in shape toward the said foot portionin that the distance between the opposite: lateral corners decreases andthe length of the sides extending from the rear rounded cornerincreases.

References Cited: in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS D.105,727 Stuart Aug. 17, 1937 228,664' Miller June 8, 1880 1,155,644Crowley Oct. 5, 1915 1,228,884 Crowley June 5, 1917 1,237,464 Brown Aug.21, 1917 1,827,777 Biddle Oct. 20,. 1931 2,294,316 Parker Aug. 25, 19422,662,308 Loewengart Dec. 5', 1953

